The Kaitakusha Chronicles: Book 1
by Durr
Summary: The Human-Covenant war is over. A Spartan-III who's supposed to be dead joins up with Battlegroup Kaitakusha in an effort to wipe out the remaining pockets of resistance. What happens when the fleet is sent to hit an isolated Covy research station? Well, this IS a crossover, what do you think will happen? See it all through the eyes of this one little Spartan. Halo/Bleach crossover
1. Chapter 1: Destined Reunion

Disclaimers: Halo, and all of its concepts, belong to 343 Industries. Bleach is licensed by Viz Media and I did NOT create the Bleach and Halo universes or any canonical characters.

**Now with that out of the way, let us begin:**

* * *

Prologue

In the mid-26th century, humanity was at war with a collection of alien races known as the Covenant. We were losing. Several attempts to slow the Covenant's genocidal crusade were made by the United Nations Space Command and the Office of Naval Intelligence. One of these attempts involved Beta Company, a group of 300 augmented super soldiers, known as Spartan-IIIs. The Spartans were tasked with destroying an alien refinery on the planet Pegasi Delta. Even though these humans were enhanced in almost every way: strength, speed, stamina, dexterity, and mental toughness, they struggled and died every inch of the way. The refinery was destroyed, but all save two of the 300 Spartans were lost.

However, history is written and then can be changed or covered in black ink. In truth, 3 Spartans survived, with the third being the leader of a small squad who was in charge of taking out a secondary refinery, far away from the primary one. This refinery was very secluded and almost as heavily defended as the first, but these five Spartans were at the top of their class in stealth and infiltration. Unfortunately, even the best make mistakes, and the one mistake the leader made cost him his squadmates's lives in exchange for the destruction of the refinery. The lone Spartan spent a month on the planet, left for dead, before stowing away on a Covenant cruiser and making his way back into friendly UNSC territory. The trauma of the mission and the death of his squad haunted the young man for years as he was sent solo on several other suicidal missions behind Covenant lines.

When the war officially ended on March 3rd, 2553, he joined Battlegroup Kaitakusha in eliminating the last pockets of Covenant loyalists near UNSC space. One of these missions, however, would begin this young man's universal odyssey, and this is his story:

Chapter 1: Destined Reunion

It all started when I kicked down the steel door to the rooftop. I checked to see if it was clear of hostiles, and it was. The only thing on top of the high rising building was the Pelican drop ship we came for. Its black and white color scheme gleamed in the afternoon sun. I turned to see four Marines file out of the doorway, and I gestured to one of them.

"Oscar, you can fly this, right?"

"Sure can! Just let me warm her up and get her going."

We ran to the back hatch of the Pelican that was tucked under the rear thrusters and opened it. Oscar jumped in first and went to the cockpit, while the other Marines took seats in the main hold. I went to the edge of the skyscraper and looked out at the skyline of New Mombassa. I scanned each rooftop until I saw one that was lit up by a firefight. I opened up the com-link and connected with ONI Agent Kiltner.

"We see your squad now, Kiltner. Hold out for just a few more minutes."

"Alright, but get here quick, Spartan! The Covies are pushing and we're running low on rounds!"

"Roger that, ETA about three-"

Before I could say anymore, the Covenant SuperCarrier that was above the city flashed blue. A flare of radiation was detected by my suit. It took me a few seconds to realize what was about to happen: The ship was going to jump into slipspace inside the city!

"Agent Kiltner! Take cover! That carrier's gonna-"

Just then, the Prophet of Regret's ship jumped into slipspace. A gigantic ball of white and blue expanded infinitely and consumed where the ship was along with the city. It then expanded even more and rushed towards me in an instant. I screamed as I was thrown off my feet and the world around me shook to pieces in a ball of white.

I continued screaming as I pushed myself up from my bed. It took me a moment to realize I just woke up from a nightmare. I was in a cold sweat, with goosebumps running down my arms and legs. I looked around my quarters in the dark, and I was alone and shaking. I checked the clock by my bed: 0624. Earth time. Breakfast had already started. "Damn! Lights on!" I yelled out loud, turning the lights on. I proceeded to get dressed and head down to the Kaitakusha's mess hall.

My name is Sean. Just Sean because I forgot my last name, though it had something to do with my nickname: Durr. The brass label for me is Captain Sierra-B094, though it was rarely used. I was taken by the Office of Naval Intelligence (aka ONI) at the age of 6, trained on a secret planet in the middle of galactic nowhere, injected with steroids and operated on, and sent on missions no one expected me to return alive from. I've been on dozens of special operations behind Covy lines causing all sorts of chaos: force reconnaissance, sabotage, assassination, information/personnel extraction, you name it, I've done it. All suicidal with little to no backup, and the public never knew. I don't even exist anywhere outside this battlegroup, and I had only two days of shore leave in all my time of "service". Yet through all the shit I've been through, I'm still alive and able to feel like any other human. I'm not a cold hyper-lethal killer like Master Chief, not a religious zealot like the ones I've killed, nor a bloodthirsty brute. I'm not a simple object to be discarded. I'm one of a kind, and I'm here to stay.

At least that's what I liked to think.

I walked into the main mess hall and headed for the buffet table. There were scraps here and there; everyone else had helped themselves. I didn't mind. I had to eat a lot worse crap and a lot less before. I got what I could and went to find a lonely spot in the sea of occupied tables. I never liked the crowds, one of the byproducts of me going out on so many solo missions. People liked to call me a "lone wolf". However today, I noticed someone, someone I haven't seen in a long time. I recognized the blonde hair of my friend and smiled as I walked over.

"May I?" I asked, and Kate jumped in her seat. She took a second to look up and recognize me.

"Oh, Sean, it you." she sighed, "Jesus, don't scare me like that."

Oops, she didn't notice me walking up. It took me half a second to respond with, "Sorry."

"Its ok, take a seat."

"Thanks." I sat down with my tray, and noticed that everyone in the near vicinity was starting to get curious. I doused their fantasy filled thoughts with a hardened glare, and they returned to their talks among themselves. I went back to focusing on Kate.

You see, Kate is an ONI operative. She and I met on her first mission in New Mombasa during the first battle of Earth right after Regret's ship jumped. Me and a few Marines were ordered to rescue her and her team when they got trapped on a rooftop. She was thrown off the mile-high building by a Brute Chieftain and I, being one that didn't like to think ahead much, jumped after her. Both of us survived the fall and the long night in the city. We parted ways after getting rescued, but fate had a little way of launching the past back in your face, and here we were, six months later.

"I should've known I'd see you again." I said with a casual smirk.

"Would you be surprised if I wasn't Miss Intelligence and I was here?" asked Kate in response.

"I would. But you're here now, and you've pulled a few strings to get here, haven't you?"

"Sorta."

"Sorta?"

Kate took a moment. "Let's just say that someone higher up thought it would be _beneficial_ for the both of us to be together."

"Oh, you don't say?"

Kate brushed her straight blonde hair behind her ear. She always kept it so that it would go a bit past here shoulder.

"But there's a catch."

I raised my eyebrow at her. "A catch? For you or me?"

"Well, for you, because in return I have to watch a pair of...Elites who are volunteering for this mission."

When "Elites" were mentioned, I could feel a lump in my throat. It was quickly followed by a hot feeling in my chest: anger. They're officially called the Sangheili, but we've dubbed them "Elites" because of their intimidating combat prowess. We were at war with them and the rest of the Covenant species for over a quarter of a century, and I've grown to hate Elites long before I met Kate, a prejudice common among the troops.

But the war was over, with the Covenant in pieces. The Sangheili broke of from the alliance and now acted on their own, but I still looked at them like they're enemies.

"Well, that's a catch for both of us." I said as calmly as I could. "Because you're gonna have to watch me around them."

"I guess I will." said Kate with a shrug. "Some of them see humanity as an ally, but these specific Elites are a bit, well, full of themselves."

"Good, it'll give me a reason to punch those split-jaws."

"You better not, I don't want another war here."

She gave me her look, and it snapped me out of my fit.

"You're right. Sorry."

"Don't be. I don't like them either, but we're stuck with them for the time being."

I sighed. "Fine, I'll try to keep myself in check, at least we're stuck with them for this one mission."

We finished our breakfast and headed out of the mess hall together, where we ran into our two Elites, literally. I turned the corned in a brisk walk only to be suddenly pushed back by a wall of black and blue. I jumped back and recognized the all too familiar shapes of two Elites.

Elites are tall bipedal aliens, with an average height of eight feet. They have hunched backs and elongated heads with leathery skin. They have lengthy scaled arms with four long fingers that looked like talons. Their legs first bent backwards at the knee then forwards again to their thick two-toed feet, as if somebody pulled their shins back. The distinguishing difference from us, though, were their mouths. Their "mouths" were open holes with the roof going from the throat to the very front of their long hunched over heads with no lips. Their jaws weren't like ours; instead of a single large bone on a hinge, they had four separate mandibles jutting from each corner of their throats, all lined with razor-sharp teeth. How they spoke english, I don't know. I don't even know how they can smell with the lack of a nose. The one in front was glossy black, like someone rubbed pencil lead heavily on him, while his subordinate behind him was a bit lighter, with gradual splotches of grey on his arms and head. The Sangheilis's eyes were on either side of their heads, with slit pupils and large irises. The grey Elite had indigo eyes, while the black's was bright gold, which looked oddly familiar; I had a feeling like I've seen them before. They both wore casual clothing, but with a purple and blue color, as opposed to our light green camo fatigues.

"Humans," the black one said, looking me over. His voice was deep, but he articulated his words which surprised me. "I thought you would be more aware than gr-ah, Ms. Kate." He just noticed her before he said "Grunts."

"Trow and I were just looking around your ship. It has fine quarters. However, I think that would simply soften the soldiers. Shouldn't they have more rough beds to toughen' them up?"

Kate began her little diplomacy spiel, "Shal, the men and women in this battlegroup have all been through a lot, they deserve some comfort between missions they might not come back alive from."

"True, since you put it that way. Very well."

The Elite then looked at me with his golden eyes.

"And who might this be? One of your pets?"

I finally remembered where I saw them from before.

"He's a friend of mine." said Kate. "He's a Spartan."

"A demon, then?" He looked to Kate. "Well, either way, I suggest you put him on a leash. He looks ready to kill me." He turned his head back to me and said with an amused tone, "Demon, why are your fists shaking?"

I couldn't relax them, because all I was thinking of was, '_Those eyes. He's the one._' An ancient anger welled up in my chest. It took all of my willpower not to lunge at the bastard.

"Well then," the Elite began to dismiss us. "Trow and I will continue our tour."

He and his partner walked past us, while whispering to Kate in a low rumble, "I still suggest the leash."

'_That's it._' I turned around to the Elite as he was walking away.

"Hey Shal!" I yelled to him. "That is your name, right?"

The split-jaw turned back to us. "Yes, that is my name, demon. What could you want?"

I pointed to him, then back to myself. "You. Me. Duel in the starboard weight room at sixteen hundred. I feel the need to shut that mouth of yours."

"A challenge?" The Elite looked intrigued, I could tell by the sudden gleam in his eyes. "Alright, demon. I accept. I hope to show you the power of the Sangheili."

"And I'll show you how we Spartans earned the title of Demons!" I shot back.

Shal's mandibles twitched upwards. I guessed it was his equivalent of a smile. "Such arrogance. I'm looking forward to this match."

The two Elites turned around and walked down the hall. We stood still until they were well out of sight. Kate turned to me.

"Sean, what the hell!? I though you said you would control yourself!"

"I said I would try." I retorted. "I didn't guarantee anything. Besides, I have to settle something with this croc."

"But-"

I snapped. "Kate!"

We locked eyes with each other. I was tall, even for a Spartan-III at 6' 10", mostly because of the augmentation. However Kate was naturally tall at 6' 5". I didn't have to really look down, but my figure was still intimidating to look up at. We stared at each other for just a few seconds, but it felt much longer to me. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then turned her head back down. I felt an icy pang of guilt. My growing anger from the Elites, especially after figuring out who the leader was, must've went into my eyes. What Kate saw was probably pure raging fire in them. The thought of it was unsettling.

"Sorry."

"That's ok." she said without looking up.

She then started to walk away in the direction opposite of the Elites.

"Kate, wait." I turned around, but she was almost to the corner. She stopped and turned around to look at me.

"I'll watch your duel, Sean, but I expect some answers after." She turned and disappeared around the corner, leaving me with my thoughts.

* * *

**Author's Notes: SO IT BEGINS.**

Before you critically critique this story and/or rip it into fine shreds and add it to your evening salad, allow me to clarify a few things:

1. _It'smyfirstpublishpleasedon'tkillme._

2. If you have not figured it out, this is a (SHAMELESS) self-insert. Even so, I shall do my best not to make these characters a roaming band of Mary Sues with Durr being the High King of Faggotry.

3. Though I "did my homework", please feel free to call me out on any inaccuracies that can undermine the entire plot. I want to be as true to the canon and physics of both universes, but at the same time I feel the need to add certain things in order to create drama and interaction. Interaction is the keyword here.

4. This is from a first person perspective, so prepare to face an unreliable narrator.

5. ...This is just a hobby?...I REGRET **NOTHING!**


	2. Chapter 2: A Briefing and a Duel

**Refer to the disclaimers of the first chapter.**

**Trife: **Yes, as I have mentioned, I will do my best not to turn Durr into a Marty Stu, along with every other OC in this story. I realize I'm walking a tightrope here, because at the same time I want Durr to have some chance against even the lower-seated Shinigami. I have big plans for that, but it seems a major revision is in order.

**This Chapter shall be short but sweet.**

**"()()()" Means a change of scene.**

* * *

Chapter 2: A Briefing and a Duel

I went to the briefing room near the bow at 0800. Along the way, I stopped and looked through one of the large viewing screens into space. I saw two or the Frigates, the Runner and Pain In The Ass, escorting the Colony ship I was on. Behind the small ships was the gorgeous Milky Way. My mind wandered as usual, and eventually I was amused by the fact that a few centuries ago, people thought that we were the only sentient life forms in the galaxy.

'_How can someone think that this huge universe of endless possibilities has only one sentient race?_' After staring out for another moment, I decided that inner philosophical debates could wait, and I kept walking until I came to the Captain's office. There I met Issac Huko, Captain of the UNSC Colony ship Kaitakusha and the Lead-Captain of the battlegroup. He was the "Fire Captain" as many liked to call him. A man in his mid fifties with fading brown hair and slightly wrinkled face, but with a mind two decades younger. He was always polite towards his crew, and yet he always went into battle with a fiery passion and got the job done, most of the time using fire-based weapons, hence the nickname.

"You wished to see me, sir?" I said as I snapped off a salute. The Captain turned from his giant information screen in the back of the room.

"Spartan, at ease." I relaxed. The Captain didn't ask me to take a seat, and I was fine with that. We learned the hard way the standard steel chair couldn't hold my weight.

"As a matter of fact, I did." answered Huko as he made his way around his desk. "I wanted to discuss your role in the upcoming mission. Please, speak freely."

"Isn't the briefing tomorrow, sir?" I was a bit skeptic, normally you would have a briefing the day of the mission.

"Yes, the briefing for everyone else is tomorrow, but I want to give your assignment today."

"Why, sir?" I became curious.

The Captain started to pace back and forth. "As you may know, we've been tasked with the sweeping of a Covenant research station near an anonymous gas giant. Our orders are to retrieve any information we could gather from their research, and then scuttle the station. However, there is another thing ONI wants us to do. Something they want you to do."

Typical. ONI used Spartans much more than the UNSC Special Weapons group. They knew we would get the job done, no matter the danger.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" I asked.  
"You are to retrieve a captured AI known as Winter. As far as we know, they haven't been able to crack her, but we don't know how much longer she can hold out."

"You're tasking me with an extraction, sir?" With something as simple as that, there had to be a complication.

"Not just that, but also a recon of the main lab before its demolition. The Covenant there have been experimenting in teleportation technology."

"How does ONI know it's teleportation?"

"A lot of energy spikes similar to slipspace jumps have been detected inside that facility. ONI has reported it's been getting more and more frequent. We believe they want to use Winter to speed up their progress."

"So find Winter, rescue her before they can crack her, and get info from the lab." I got it all down. One last thing was on my mind, however. "Sir, am I going alone?"

"No, Captain. Kate and the two Elites she's babysitting will be accompanying you."

I bet he could tell I was having mixed reactions. I was glad to be on the same fireteam as Kate, but those Elites...

I drifted off into thought until the Captain snapped me back into reality. His tone was serious. "Durr, I know you have a special place in you heart for Elites, but this mission is important. Do what you can to let go of the past."

The corner of my mouth curled up ever so slightly.

"I already have that covered, sir. Shal and I are dueling in the starboard weight room at oh-four-hundred."

"You challenged him?"

"He asked for it, sir."

The Captain lowered his head with a frown on his face and murmured, "Sean..." He lost himself in deep thought, I let him think. After a few seconds, he came to his conclusion.

"Alright. I'll allow the duel. Just don't injure him severely, and don't get yourself any broken bones either. I need the both of you to be in top shape for the mission."

"Understood, sir. Is that all?"

"That is all, Spartan." I gave him my salute, "Sir." and walked out of the room.

I was worried. Out of the six months that I have been attached to the battlegroup, that was the first time the Captain ever said my given name.

()()()

The rest of the day flew by until 0400 came around. I dressed into my exercise gear: a white nylon tank-top with dark green shorts. I then went into the weight room. The room was fairly large and rectangular with a high ceiling. In the middle of the room, surrounded by exercise equipment, were four wrestling mats evenly spaced out, each being in a different color: red, blue, orange, and green. The Elite and I took the orange mat. A crowd was gathering along the edges to watch the fight. Most of the people I knew along with their friends were on my side of the mat. I saw Kate with her new group of friends, with Trow next to her. Everyone gave the Elite plenty of room, but he either didn't notice or didn't care. Kate herself was looking nervous, yet when we saw each other she smiled and gave an encouraging nod. I nodded back and returned my attention to the croc. He still had his casual shirt and shorts, but I can tell by the way he looked at me that he was excited.

The referee, a middle-aged Sergeant Mike Camper, came to the edge of the mat.

"All right, ladies. Since crocy here might not know, I'll give..."

I blocked out the Sergeant. I knew the rules: we go at each other until one of us gives up, or one of us was knocked out.

The Sergeant disappeared along with everyone except Shal. The ship vanished into darkness as well, leaving me and the Elite on the mat in a black void. I focused on the alien, the one bastard who I only thought I killed. First the girl I met only a few months ago came back, now the fuckin' Elite from so long ago. '_Who's next_?'

"Split-jaws! 'You ready?"

"I am."

"Enough chit-chat! Three! Two! O-"

'_Shut up._'

My mind began to change. It whittled down the thought process to essential information, things that were relevant only to the situation.

Then, the setting changed.

I was back on Pegasi Delta. Primary(Destroy Covenant Refinery): Complete. New Primary: Move to evac Prowlers. Single Needler round to right shoulder. Superficial; address later. SPI active-camo: useless. Single Elite. Unarmed.

I moved in. Had to take initiative. The Elite waited until I was within reach. His right arm preformed an uppercut, aiming for my midsection. I avoided and sidestepped to his right. I kicked the side of his knee. He was forced to crouch. His head was in striking distance. Left hook. It struck with a meaty ***Thunk***. The Elite recovered instantly and countered with a right backhand. It hit me squarely in the face.

***Crack***

I found myself spinning around. I landed on a mat. Bright overhead light. Loud ringing. On a ship. Forgot its name. A crowd was around me. A mix of tones and voices. Smell of hot leather. Irrelevant. Focus on Elite.

The Elite was standing over me. He raised his two-toed foot. I rolled away and stood up. The crowd began shouting. The Elite charged. A flurry of punches, kicks, swipes. Getting sweaty. Could only dodge for so long. Ducked. The Elite's knee slammed my sternum. Almost doubled over. Couldn't breathe. I feel the alien grabbing the back of my head.

"Pathetic."

The Elite threw me to the opposite side of the mat. My head hit with a ***Thud***. Blood in my mouth. Head's throbbing now. '_Get up._' '_Trying...Can't._' '_Then crawl._' I tried. The Elite stopped me by stepping on my back. I felt him lowering himself. He growled in my ear:

"I cannot help but feel that this happened before." '_It did._' "But tell me, Demon, why did you challenge me?"

Head still throbbing. Breathe. '_Why? 'Cause..._'

"Did I insult you? Does my presence rival your hollow power here? Have I threatened your reputation?" He waited for me. I didn't answer. "Or is this a matter more personal?"

'_You...You..._' I realized why I was losing. Something was slowing me down. I was forgetting why I was fighting him. I remembered.

"What did I do, Demon?"

My throat was dry. My chest was burning, but not from pain anymore. My pupils dilated. My mind _clicked_.

"You killed them."

The results of Project Chrysanthemum worked their horrors.

The next thing I remembered was me screaming at Shal as I held him down and pummeled his head. His left eye was swollen. He was coughing up purple blood. Some of it was on my knuckles. Some of it was on my face, mixed with my own.

Arms, several human arms, wrapped around me. They tried to pull me off. I kept punching Shal. I heard people calling for Durr. '_Who's Durr?_' I was Sierra-B094. I was a-

***Bzzz* **'_SHOCKFUCKSHITFU_-' ***Thwack***

'_..._'

* * *

Author's notes:

-Obligatory "The plot thickens!"

-Anger management issues, the possibility of PTSD, and superhuman strength. Not the best combination. Spartans, even though they are super soldiers, are still human with [repressed] feelings. Durr is the more emotional type. Speaking of: expect lots of emotion and backstory-explaining in the next chapter, particularly between our little Spartan and a certain ONI operative.

-Project CHRYSANTHEMUM: wiki/Project_CHRYSANTHEMUM

-If you're annoyed by the lack of Bleach, please be patient. It takes a while to introduce the first several original characters along with _an entirely new battlegroup of an unestablished number of ships and troops_.


	3. Chapter 3: The Past

**Refer to the disclaimers in the first chapter. **

**Author's Notes:** After, what, 3 months? The half dead corpse that is this story suddenly springs up, full of life. I guess that's what happens when you force yourself to scrap an emotionally invested chapter and start over, completely, and then realize you already have written 12 chapters over the course of 2 years, and you have to redo all of it.

It's quite taxing, but don't fret. I'll be going into overdrive, now that I've kicked out all the stuff my younger self wrote, so here you go.

Also here's some music to set the tone: /watch?v=BPOcdRDOzuk

* * *

Chapter 3: The Past

_*Pant...pant*_

_"_It's over...it's over."

_Must check her. She hasn't moved from that spot. Helmet was knocked off. Hair's a mess. She's clutching her abdomen. Energy sword through torso. Sternum, stomach, lungs cut open then cauterized. The bleeding still hasn't stop. Crimson liquid mixes with orange dust. Her breathing's labored._

"_Jane? Jane."_

_Eyes go from staring upwards to searching. They stop on my visor._

_"...Sean?"_

_"Don't talk. You're condition's critical."_

_"...The Elite."_

_Another presence. Something big. Look up. Impossible. It was thrown off a cliff. Watched it fall the whole way._

_"__**Pathetic.**__"_

_It lunges in a flash of electric blue._

()()()

I woke up spazzing out and cursing, only to find myself strapped down heavily to a medical bed. My wide eyes were taking in all that they could, which was a lot. I was in one of the many med bays. There were people all around me, and they have taken precautions.

'_For what? Ah: the dual._' Everything came back to me: my prejudices, my challenge, the duel, my… episode. I pushed those thoughts back into my head and tried to focus on what was going on now. The staff rushed over and checked the dozens of instruments stuck into me, along with trying to calm me down, attempting vainly to push me down as I instinctively tugged at the metal cuffs.

"Calm yourself, demon." said a deep alien voice. I snapped my head to the left to find Shal's lackey, Trow, standing in front of the bed right next to mine. I stained my neck to see who was on it, and I froze at the sight of a bruised and bloody Elite. His head was an absolute mess. Dried blood, both mine and his own, was all over his elongated head. Several welts rose from his face as well, some of which have swollen his one eye shut. Shal wasn't moving at all.

'_I did that?_ _Jesus, if I wasn't hearing his heart monitor I would've thought he was dead._'

A rough "Ahem" drew my attention to the front of my bed, and I knew what I was in for. Captain Huko looked at me with his arms crossed and the biggest of frowns on his face. The doctors no longer in the room. It was just me, him, Trow, and an unconscious Shal.

"Sir." was the only word I could come up with.

"Spartan, do you have any idea what kind of shitstorm I had to diffuse an hour ago? You're lucky we don't have any Sangheili ships near us, otherwise they'd be asking for your head."

"We are not savages, shipmaster." said Trow. "The Demon's challenge was valid, and Shal accepted it and the consequences. It was your crew interfering that irked me. Shal was still fighting, and he would have continued to fight, with more vigor even, since his blood was shed. But because of your crew's interference, the duel, in my eyes, is now null and void."

Huko took a deep breath before responding. "Then I apologize, Mr. 'Nosol. It has been only months since the war ended, and I have been too busy cleaning up to read up on your culture."

"Understandable, but to avoid further misunderstandings, please…oh how do you humans say it…_do your homework_?"

The Captain took another deep breath. "Yeah, guess I should." He looked to me again, but his face was relaxed now. "You're still on the mission, Spartan, but you better keep yourself under control. Understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. I'll be at the bridge." And the Captain stepped out of the room, prompting the platoon of nurses and doctors to come rushing back in and check everything. Once they declared me stable both physically and mentally (besides a swollen cheek where Shal backhanded me), they unstrapped me and allowed me to leave.

However I felt the need to stay for a little while longer. Trow remained at Shal's bedside, staring down at his partner. Sometimes he would look at the staff in the med bay and do his best to keep away from them. By the look in his eyes Trow was extremely uncomfortable. My mind went further into this revelation, and I imagined both Trow and Shal cowering in fear at the sight of a needle.

"What are you smiling at, Demon?" asked Trow with an edge in his deep voice. I realized that at some point I had moved to the other side of Shal's bed. Now it was my turn to feel uncomfortable under Trow's gaze.

"Uh. Well, I noticed you fidgeting around and… Are you afraid of hospitals?"

'_Oh god that sounded stupid._'

Trow took a deep breath before answering. He went into detail on how the Sangheili had a low view on doctors and medicine in general. The Elite explained to me the belief that someone's blood contained the essence of their honor, and to lose one's blood was to lose one's honor. Because of that, there were next to no Sangheili doctors, for they "centered their profession on slicing open flesh and spilling their own brother's blood."

For the next several hours, I, a Spartan, discussed with Trow, an Elite. We talked about many things, most of them involving the war. Trow was actually a specy (my term for spec. ops.) and Shal was a ranger, so both saw plenty of action, but they only met each other a few months ago. It turned out Shal saved Trow from the flood on Delta Halo, and from that point on the two were inseparable. Shal woke up sometime in the evening and joined with us. He asked me what happened after Operation TORPEDO, but I had to stick with protocol and tell him I was busy; I didn't want to give him anything he could exploit. I asked Shal when he became a ranger, and Shal said he became one a few years ago, and participated as a veteran in the space battles above Reach.

()()()

It was around 8:00 PM ship time that I took my leave and walked back to my room. I punched in my 4-number code, causing the door to slide open, and did a quick visual sweep of my room. To my left was my bed and footlocker. Across from the door was the large work desk I rarely used. To my right was the door to my bathroom and in the corner was a random stainless steel table that I never used.

I headed straight to the fresher and took a quick shower since I was sweating for the entire afternoon. When I came out and began drying myself off, I looked into the mirror.

I saw a ghost.

Its skin was pure white, the result of spending half of its life in SPI armor. The specter-like visage was juxtaposed by faint red lips, a pair of blue eyes, short dark blonde hair, and a slight case of acne on the forehead that came from sweating while wearing a helmet. Its cheeks and jawline were rounded, and sported no scars thanks to a conservative approach on long assignments. The only real masculine feature was the forming of stubble along its jaw.

I rubbed where the stubble was and made a mental note to shave soon.

After I cleaned myself up and got dressed, I sat at my desk. The metal swivel chair creaked as I leaned back and let out an exhausted sigh. It was a long day and so much had happened. I almost wished we weren't clearing out a Covy base tomorrow; I needed time to think. I used to have plenty of time to think on my assignments, but now I had so much new information to process in so little time. It was frustrating and was probably going to deprive me of sleep.

That was before the door sounded. I spent a moment staring at the door before I slowly got up and walked over.

The door slid open to show Kate. She looked up and gave me a smile.

"Kate." I acknowledged.

"Sean." Her smile disappeared suddenly. "What's wrong?"

"Hm?"

"You look tired."

I felt under my eyes, and the skin there felt really loose. Then I felt my eyelids getting heavy. I sighed. "I just got a lot of stuff to think about."

"Like what?"

*yawn* "Shal alone is enough, but... What Trow told me. I never thought Elites would have such... culture."

I started to turn and head back to my chair. "I mean, I knew they were honorable, but..." I plopped down with a mighty _squeak _and pinched the bridge of my nose. "I just never knew."

Kate walked in and closed the door behind her. "Maybe when this is all over, you can talk more with your friends. Maybe Shal isn-"

"Shal is not my friend." The seriousness in my voice startled her as well as myself. I collected myself before saying, "He will never be. Not after what he did seven years ago."

"Operation TORPEDO. Your first assignment. An assault on a Covenant refinery on Pegasi Delta. Your task was to take out a secondary refinery. Only Spartans Tom and Lucy survived, at least, until you appeared a month later on an outer colony. You started with a full squad, but only you came back." Kate said solemnly.

"That's the summary of it." I told Kate. I then elaborated on what happened. Most of it was already stated by me in my post-mission report, but I felt a massive urge to talk to someone about it. As I remembered more of that day, the more an icy pain built up within my chest. It became almost unbearable when I talked about... my meeting with Shal. My breathing quickened.

"Aden was dead, and Simon was about to go up with the refinery. Nikki, Jane, and I were running when... he caught up with us." I leaned forward and grasped my knees. My hands were extremely cold. "Nikki... Nikki disappeared in a plasma explosion. I was kicked away and incapacitated, long enough for the Elite to..."

The image I dreaded appeared in my mind: Jane, her helmet knocked off, her expression one of shock, lifted into the air, with an energy sword in her stomach.

That image was enough for tears to drop to the floor. Every day I saw the image, and every time I saw it I cried. At times it was a few tears, at others I sobbed for several minutes. This time I cried for what felt like hours, and throughout all of it one sentence filled my head.

'_They're dead, all of them, because of me._'

"Dammit. Just...dammit."

When I began to settle down, I heard an indistinguishable sound: _the clinking of dog tags. _I opened my eyes and turned to find Kate kneeling beside me and holding eight of them in her hands. One pair was severely bent, another was scorched by plasma. I looked up at Kate, who held a sober expression.

"I saw these fell out of your soft case while you were fighting the Brutes. I couldn't give them to you then, so I held onto them... for safe keeping."

She gently took my hand and placed the metals into my open palm, before closing my hand. I looked at my hand, dumbfounded, then at Kate. Without thinking, I pulled her up on her feet and into a tight embrace.

I probably said "Thank you." half a dozen times. What could I say? I was thankful.

After a few seconds of silence, Kate struggled to ask, "You done, big guy?"

I then realized I was bear hugging her and quickly released her. "Sorry."

More silence, this time slightly awkward. "Again, thanks. I needed that."

Kate smiled. "Anything to keep my Spartan happy... What?"

I stared at her for a moment before asking, "Your Spartan? Who put you in charge?"

"ONI, obviously. It's not like I'm gonna stop you from doing your job, though."

"That's reassuring. At least we're just clearing out a research station tomorrow. I need time to think."

Kate grinned at that. "You're not payed to think, soldier."

"I don't get payed at all. I volunteered for this, remember?" I used air quotes on "volunteered".

"Right." Kate walked to the door and opened it. "Well, I think we could both use some sleep; we have a long day ahead of us."

"Yeah. 'Night, Kate."

"'Night, Sean." and with that, Kate walked out and closed the door behind her.

After getting settled in bed ten minutes later I had the strange feeling that I've heard those last two lines before.

* * *

**Author's notes: **A troubled past, who would've thought?

And expect to be introduced to another batch of characters next chapter. It may seem pointless, but like I said: I have big plans, and it's all connected.

Also: Beta Reading; anyone?


	4. Chapter 4: A Man and His Armor

**Please refer to disclaimers from the first chapter.**

****I'm not sure if anyone was expecting this, given how long it took for the last chapter. Don't think I've lost interest or anything. It's just... well, procrastination.

And so, here you go:

* * *

Chapter 4: A Man and His Armor

The flash of white faded, and I found that I was lying on my back. It took me some effort to stand up. I looked over the edge of the skyscraper and across the skyline of New Mombassa. The city was still intact, but some buildings were not where they once were, and the air was illuminated by white and blue particles floating down. I checked my comms, and was surprised that they we're still working. I raised agent Kiltner.

"Kiltner, you there?"

Kiltner coughed over the comm.

"Yeah, I am. We're still fighting, spartan. Get over here ASAP."

"On our way." I replied, and I turned to the pelican. I climbed in, telling Oscar to take off and head for the Agent's rooftop.

As we flew, a pair of covenant banshees zoomed out from between several buildings. They boosted behind us and began to fire streaks of blue plasma at our dropship. In response, I brought down the triple-barreled M41 vulcan chain gun that was built into the top of the main hold. With an accelerating rhythm, the MG sent .50 caliber rounds into one of the blue and purple fliers. The banshee disintegrated in the hail of bullets and its debris fell a mile to street level. Its wingman broke off and went behind another skyscraper.

After the bogey disappeared, we arrived at the roof where the ONI agent was. We circled above and eliminated the rest of the jackals and grunts firing at Kiltner's squad, who were using blown out power junctions and air conditioners as cover. The pelican completed its circle and landed on the edge of the rooftop. I jumped out and ran over to agent Kiltner. He wore a standard marine's uniform with a fully-concealing helmet and a black stripe on his left arm.

"Good to see you, spartan." said Kiltner. "Do you mind giving us a lift?"

"I don't, sir. We're in a bit of a rush, though, so hop on board and we'll be on our way."

He and his five marines started to run towards the pelican, but just then the banshee from before flew above us, alongside a phantom dropship. It soared over Kiltner's squad, and out of its round bottom hatch dropped an a brute chieftain. The five marines scattered to avoid getting crushed by the nine-foot-tall ape. He landed where the marines once stood and slammed the ground with his gravity hammer, cratering the cement. Four of the marines escaped and bounded for theelican, but one was on the opposite side of where the mongrel landed. She was forced away from the pelican when the chieftain turned and targeted her.

She backed up, firing her battle rifle at the brute's feet, while me and the other marines fired at his back. The ape closed the distance with the trooper even as he stumbled from our firepower hammering his shields. He swung his hammer sideways at the marine, but she jumped back and avoided the head as it disappeared into an air conditioner. The chieftain tried to pull the hammer out, yet it stayed in there. Then his shields broke and our bullets started to pierce his furry hide.

Our constant barrage of led and the frustration of not being able to pull his hammer out made the brute go berserk. He let go of the grav' hammer and charged the marine in a surprising burst of speed. The soldier had no time to react and took the ape's shoulder to her chest. The impact sent her flying to the unguarded edge of the roof, knocking her helmet off. I cursed and rushed the beast, throwing away my empty rifle and using all the muscle I could to sprint across the roof to somehow keep the brute from killing the marine. As I ran, the banshee that was harassing us wheeled around in front of me and flew low. It began to strafe with its duel plasma cannons.

I scooped up a covenant plasma grenade from a dead grunt, activated it, and hurtled it at the covy fighter. The grenade stuck to the fighter's front and exploded in an electric ball of blue. I ran past the ensuing debris and saw the chieftan lifting the marine by the neck over the edge, ready to drop her. I grabbed my M6 and fired at him. The bullets lodged into his back, making the mongrel turn his head in my direction. I holstered my magnum and sprinted as hard as I could, but it wasn't enough. The ape took one last look at the girl before roaring at me and casually tossing her over the side. She screamed as she started her mile long fall to the ground. The brute then faced me again and took a stance, telling me he was ready for one last fight. I knew that the chieftain was the last immediate threat in our area, and I both wanted to somehow save the marine who was falling and kill the ape who threw her, so I did the most sensible thing possible:

I tackled the brute over the edge of the skyscraper.

I caught the ape by surprise, giving me the advantage of the first punch as we fell through the air. I pounded his head several more times before the chieftain got over his bewilderment and grappled with me. He punched my chest once, denting the titanium, but I simply got angry and swiped out my combat knife. I hacked at the arm that held me, severing it off at the elbow with three quick strikes. The brute roared in pain, but I wasn't done yet. I sheathed my knife and positioned myself in the air so that he was between me and the side of the skyscraper. I wound up my leg, spinning in the air to gain momentum. I finished getting power behind my leg and kicked the ape square in the sternum, crushing the cartilage and possibly squishing his heart. He flew back and slammed into the side of the building, tumbling head over heals as he bounced back over to me. I grabbed my pistol once again and latched onto the brute's chest plate, turning upside-down with him. The ape received the remaining rounds in his head, finishing the bastard off.

I looked down and saw the marine falling not too far below me, but the ground was coming up at a frightening pace. I kicked myself off the dead chieftain and straightened myself to gain speed and catch up to the soldier. I grabbed her a few hundred feet above the street and turned so that only my back would hit the ground, hoping my newly given MJOlNIR armor could protect me and the girl from a mile long drop. I shut my eyes just before we met the roof of a two-story building across the street.

Then, the feeling of falling stopped suddenly, and I opened my eyes. I found myself back in my quarters on the Kaitakusha. I pushed myself out of bed lazily and checked the time. It turned out to be 5:50 AM. I sighed in annoyance before beginning my routine.

Time for breakfast and another gossip session with third squad.

()()()

It's been said for centuries that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I respectfully disagree. I'm not saying I hate the actual meal (the chefs on this ship make delicious pancakes) its just that for months, I've associated breakfast with Third Squad, either the bravest FNGs or the dumbest haggle of manchildren I've ever met.

Now let me explain these guys: they're the third squad of first platoon, second company, third battalion, first regiment of Battlegroup Kaitakusha. On my first mission with the battlegroup, I rescued the squad of young marines when they were cut off from their platoon during a firefight. They all made it out, and afterward they all thought they could sit wherever I sat at like buddies. Leading third squad was the only tolerable man of the group: corporal Nick Nokēsu, with his second in command lance corporal John Dume. Then there was private first class Alec Borks and Parker Ernst, privates Ted Anders and Alex Luchnik, and six other apprentices and recruits. My "friends" were all gathered around the table I was sitting at once again, and I was forced to listen to their gossip, just like every other goddamn morning.

Today, the topic of discussion was (unsurprisingly) all of yesterday afternoon that involved me and the elites.

"So Durr," John started while he sat next to me, "I heard after the fight you had a heart-to-hearts with the elites down in medical. Care to share?"

"No."

"Oh, come on Durr!" exclaimed Ted, butting into the conversation from across the table. "We gotta know what happened. Didn't you say 'You killed them' during th-"

The private received a salt shaker to the nose at high velocity.

"None of your business. That's between me and Shal."

"Well, it's just how you went psychotic on the guy." said Alex, "There must be some backstory there."

"There is, but I don't talk about it, and I won't start today." I sipped some orange juice, damn was it pulpy.

"But wait! There's more." stated John with a grin.

I became confused. There was the fight and the talk in the med bay. Nothing else happened last night, unless...

"I was on the way to my room when I saw Durr letting miss naval intelligence into his room."

The entire table became silent. Everyone looked to me as I sat there, frozen with a fork in my mouth.

'_Oooh, shit._'

Ted got over his broken nose and leaned across the table.

"Durr! I didn't know you were such a player!"

'_Stay calm, just..._' I slowly placed my utensil down. The *clink* of metal upon metal was easily heard.

"John." I started as I focused on the lance corporal. "Officer Kate simply inquired about my reasoning for challenging the elite. After that we just chatted for a while. Nothing else happened. Nothing." I did my best to pour as much "sincerity" in that last word as I could.

The young marine across from me didn't get it at all. "Oooh no! You two did not 'just chat'." He did not notice my fists turning even more white as he laid his elbows on the table and leaned forward. "I guess even spartans need some stress r-"

In an instant I grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him across the table in a cascade of stainless-steel trays and milk. I got him close so that we were eye to eye. I let a moment of stunned silence pass before I whispered behind my teeth,

"Listen, Ted. When I say nothing else happened, then nothing, else, happened."

I made sure that my eyes were full of malice.

"Understood?"

Ted gulped. "U-understood."

"Good." I pushed him back into his seat and exited the mess hall without saying another word.

()()()

I arrived at the central armory ten minutes later to pick up my armor. Professor Jenny Lockwell met me at the door. She was the lead scientist and technician of the ship, and had the responsibility of looking after my MK VI MJOLNIR armor. The scientist and I walked to the secured vault that held my gear. On the way there, Lockwell asked me, "So, how close are you to the new girl?"

Having already vented my anger at Ted, I was a lot more willing to answer.

"Kate? She and I met a while back. We where in New Mombasa after Regret jumped. The two of us spent the night hiding in the city."

The red-haired techy grinned. "Some'r saying that you two did more than just hiding."

'_Not you too._' "That's none of your business."

"Oh, come on! Everyone knows you have a thing for her. You two would make a great couple!"

I looked the other way. "This coming from the woman who's rejected every single man that's asked her out."

"None of them were my type. Besides, I don't want to get weighed down by someone else. That isn't my thing."

'No wonder she's the techy' a part of me thought.

We arrived at the vault. The professor typed in the code and opened the door to the "armor closet". Inside the long room were several suits of armor, each of different colors and configurations. I looked for mine and found it at the end of the room.

MJOLNIR armor, the biggest technological breakthrough since the Shaw-Fujikawa slipspace drive. This piece of equipment was responsible for making spartans walking tanks. My suit had a simple look to it: silver all around. The helmet was a mark V variant with a black visor and high-com uplink, a flipped and triangular recon plate on the left shoulder, and a boxy mark V pad on the right. Many pouches containing intelligence-gathering equipment covered the chest, along with the sheath for a combat knife. A soft case was attached to the left thigh.

"I don't see why you won't change your armor's look." said Lockwell, "It just looks dull."

"It's not dull, it's classic." I retorted. I always liked the look of the mark five series. Thankfully Special Weapons allowed Spartans to have their own preferred combination of armor pieces thanks to their seemingly infinite budget.

"I'll let you change." said the techy as she walked out of the closet and closed the door behind her.

As I suited up I couldn't help but think about one thing: Kate.

'_Why the hell are people thinking we have a relationship? I guess I can see why with the whole "spent the night in the city" thing. Yes, we spent the night together in New Mombassa, but we weren't in the best of circumstances at the time. Hell, Kate was captured by brutes at one point. I still find it hard to believe she survived that, given how bad she looked._'

I sighed as I adjusted my breastplate and shoulder pads. '_Freudian was right. No matter how many times I say otherwise, people are going to think whenever a man and woman are together, alone, and with time to kill, they will simply fuck._'

I paused at that last train of thought. I waited; waited for... something.

'_...shouldn't I be blushing?_' From what little social knowledge I have learned, sex was supposed to be awkward to address directly. Whenever somebody's "sex life" (or rumor of a sex life) was brought up, people usually would have blood rush up to their cheeks. Here I openly quelled rumors about me and Kate fucking, yet while I felt annoyance and anger, I wasn't blushing.

...

I shrugged. '_Must be the drugs._'

After five minutes, I was suited up and began to head towards the starboard hanger bay, my thoughts focused soley on the mission.

* * *

Author's Notes:

...Well, I sure wrote myself into an akward situation here.

But of course that awkward situation was caused by a bunch of young marines who have faster mouths. The introductory of a marine squad was simple for me: I don't want to introduce them later when events are occurring at a rapid pace. They'll be used later, much later.

But hey, that's what happens when main characters are separated from friendly forces via magical portal, which will happen in the next chapter.

Again, beta reading? Anyone?


	5. Chapter 5: Clear This Station

**Please refer to the disclaimers of the first chapter.**

You thought this fanfic was one of those pieces of writing that are started but the writer never commits and it eventually dies.

Well here is proof that I _am_ commited to this story, it's just that I tend to get lazy at stuff like this and write about a sentence a day, a paragraph if I'm really feeling the artistic juices.

Also, it seems my capilization has been out of whack, so I shall refer to _The Flood_ by William Dietz for what words to give a capital.

* * *

Chapter 5: Drones, Pheonix Tangos, and Inter-dimensional Portals

As I walked towards the main starboard hanger, I had to navigate past the heavy traffic in the hallways. Technicians, pilots, Marines, and even the occasional Helljumper clogged up my route, moving around each other in organized chaos. They all had a job to do in this mission, for it was a big one.

The research station, according to ONI, was once a major refinery that utilized the gases from the nearby giant. When the Covenant war machine went to shit, they dedicated the orbiting platform to producing WMDs, wonder weapons, or anything that could give them a chance to reignite the war. It was our job to deny them that chance.

The plan was while the fighters and frigates tied up the outer defenses, several infiltration teams would be flown to key points of the station and find their way inside. From there each team had certain jobs such as keeping the enemy occupied, sabotaging security systems, cutting off life support in certain areas, or gaining control of hanger bays to allow reinforcements in.

My team's objectives were twofold: secure a captured artificial intelligence designated as Winter and extract any and all information from the main lab. Everything else was secondary. We couldn't waste time helping out the other teams, otherwise the covies would have been given more time to destroy everything useful.  
I arrived at the starboard hanger, and it may as well have been a major star port. C709 Longsword fighters were being catapulted out, while others were returning for refueling and repairs. Pelican dropships were being prepped for the many insertion teams, each one being swarmed by a bunch of mechanics. The Pelican taxiing my team was at the far end of the hanger. As I approached the pad, I saw Kate and the Elites getting ready.

Kate was in a sage colored Marine's uniform, which was covered in pouches meant for everything between ammo and souvenirs. Her helmet was fully sealed and a standard jet pack was strapped to her back, allowing for easy maneuverability in a vacuum. The ONI operative was busy loading our Pelican with extra ammo and the explosives we needed for scuttling the station.

The two Elites were loading their own equipment, and they too were ready for extra-vehicular activity.

Shal was in his shiny white Ranger suit, with an "anti gravity generator" on his back. Many of the composite plates were rounded, and the chest piece bulged out for some reason. The dark blue visor took up the top of the Elite's head and half of the front, so in the right lighting you could've seen the outline of his head and his golden eyes.

Trow, being a Specy, was in a Special Operations suit. Normally, a Specy's suit had the bottom of the helmet open, but it looked like Trow added a special mesh to that area, so his armor was now airtight. His armor's color was a deep ruby, with slightly lighter highlights streaking down the torso and limbs. The helmet itself was intimidating; two long prongs lined with jagged teeth protruded horizontally from the front, making his head look like that of a mutant deep-sea predator.

"Hey Sean." I turned to Kate, who was holding a rifle of some sorts. "Got a treat for you."

She tossed the weapon to me, and when I caught it I was surprised by the weight of it. At first I thought it was a MA5k, but it was slightly larger and more closely resembled one of the BR55s. There was a blue ammo counter that read 60 rounds, so it was definitely an MA assault rifle.

"That 'antique' is the MA2B assault rifle." Kate explained. "Blue Team used it during their first mission. Uses .390 caliber rounds, both AP and shredder. Nine hundred rounds a minute."

'_900 rounds a minute?_' I did the math, and I figured the entire magazine could've been emptied in 4 seconds. Behind my visor I was grinning as much as the first time I held a firearm. Any covie dumb enough to charge me would get a face full of rounds larger than the normal AR rounds. I would have settled for an MA5k, but this...

This rifle was a monster and I loved it already.

When we were all set, we waited in our dropship for the order from Captain Huko. The four of us sat in the seats flanking the open cargo area. Kate and I sat on one side while Shal and Trow took the other. While the Elites held their weapons in their hands, I had the AR mag-locked on the jetpack strapped to my back and Kate had her Battle Rifle on a strap hanging over her shoulder.

While we waited, Shal and I had a short staring contest before the Ranger spoke up.

"So, Sean..."

I tensed when I heard my name. "Don't."

Shal tilted his elongated head. "Don't what?"

I stared right at the Elite. "Don't call me that."

"I am not allowed?" If there was any sarcasm, I couldn't detect it.

"Yes. You call me Demon, Spartan, even Durr, but _don't_ call me that."

"Yet Ms. Kate can and has called you by that name." Oh, now he's getting technical.

"...She earned it."

"Earned what?"

I had a gut feeling the Elite was cornering me somehow. "The right to call me that."

"So we have yet to earn the right to call you by your actual name?"

I felt Kate prodding the gap of armor in my hip, but I was focused on the smart-mouthed dino. "Remember who you are, Elite."

The Ranger then lowered his head as if to stare me down, and almost growled, "You say that, yet you forget that a year ago I would have laughed at the thought of you pathetic humans ever being worthy of having names_. _Remember that, _Sean_."

I was about to respond when the pilot announced our departure and kindly asked us to strap ourselves in. Right after she said that the Pelican hopped into the air and blasted out of the hanger. There were no straps, so I had to grab the underside of my seat before I was flung against the closed hatch. Kate wasn't fast enough and she slammed into me hard.

I wanted to check to see if she was okay, but then I was pushed into my seat as the Pelican did a barrel roll to the right.

For the next thirty seconds, I held onto the seat with my right hand while I had Kate wrapped in my left arm, which was the only reason she wasn't flying around the place. The Elites, like Kate, weren't fast enough, and the both of them bounced around the hold a few times before grabbing onto the netting above high above the seats. I felt the concussion blasts of explosions outside the Pelican, so I could only guess the pilot was evading enemy fire.

'_Butdidn'tthelongswordstakecareofouterdefencesHOLYS HIT!_'

I was doing my best not to panic, but these were the most extreme maneuvers I had ever experienced in a Pelican, and the sensation of twisting and turning while flying fucking sideways sent my mind into overdrive. I couldn't see anywhere outside the craft, so I could only pray and curse at the psychotic pilot while hanging on for my life.

After a long thirty seconds, we stopped twisting and began to slow down. The pilot announced we reached our destination and asked us to "Prepare for a complete stop and boarding action."

Apparently to the pilot, that meant her blowing a hole in the side of the research station with missiles, preforming a tight one-eighty, opening the back hatch into space _while preforming the one-eighty_, and then going forward again. That last burst of thrust dislodged us from our seats, and the four of us were flung through space and into the burning hole in the side of the station.

It was then I realized I forgot to put on my jet pack along with Trow, so I had to brace myself. Shal, being experienced in zero-g, righted himself immediately and kept Trow from hitting his head on the inner bulkhead. Being a Spartan with enhanced reflexes, I was able to right myself as well and "land" on my feet, only feeling a small pinch in my groin; negligible. Kate came right after me and I waited to catch her, but she activated her jet pack and killed her momentum, allowing her to land gently.

In under a minute, we went from idling inside a Pelican in a friendly hangar to floating inside a makeshift Covenant research facility.

A part of me took a fleeting moment to laugh at the absurdity.

Then it was right back to the mission.

After "thanking" the pilot and giving her orders to stay out of harm's way until we completed our objective, we made our way to the main lab. The metallic pink hallways were made up of sections, with heavy blast doors at consistent intervals to contain hull breaches. When we entered the first intact section, gravity took control again and we were at last on the floor and moving fast. For the first several dozen sections, nothing living opposed us. Sometimes there was a glowing plasma battery or a closed storage container, but other than those we ran across nothing. Not even our personal radars picked up anything.

"The defenders must have their attention directed at the other teams." said Shal.

"Or they realized nothing will stop us." added Trow.

"Either way," commented Kate, "It shouldn't be this easy."

"Don't jinx us, people." I told everyone as we jogged. "They should at least have something to slow us down."

While I wasn't that much of a spiritual man, I've learned the hard way that talk like this had a tendency to bring about... unforeseen contingencies. I remembered one of my earlier assignments, one that was supposed to be a "simple recon", when it turned out-

'_...What's that droning noise?_ '

There was a low humming that wasn't present before, and I couldn't make out where it was coming from. It was hardly audible over us running, but it was steadily rising in volume.

"Does anyone else hear that?"

"Hear what?" asked Kate.

"That droning noise."

I raised a fist to halt everyone, and we stopped at a three-way intersection. The four of us held our breath and listened. Without our breathing and footfalls, the rising background noise became much more clear.

"That's not the station." said Kate.

"Indeed." concurred Trow. "That is something else, but I cannot..."

I looked at the Elites, and Shal looked back at me. "It sounds familiar," he muttered, "but... Wait."

The ranger pointed a talon-like finger at me. "How did you describe the sound?"

I hesitated before saying, "A droning noise. W-"

Droning noise.

Drone.

The realization hit a lot harder than it should have.

I shouldered my rifle and aimed it down the stem of the T-junction. Kate made sure her battle rifle was set to burst fire and aimed it down the way we came. Shal and Trow aimed down the remaining hallway with a plasma repeater and plasma rifle respectively.

Anticipation was the keyword here. With such confined spaces distorting the sounds, we couldn't figure out which way the Drones were coming from. Thankfully, we had options here in terms of routes to the lab, so we just had to wait for the things to appear and take the one hallway not filled with them.

We waited. We listened as the buzzing rose and rose in volume.

When it reached its apex, red dots appeared on my radar, and the Elites opened fire.

I turned to look, and I was back on Pegasi Delta again, inside the refinery.

_There were fuckin' hundreds of them._

Bugs the size of a man, with green undersides and yellow armor, golden compound eyes, and each was either carrying a plasma pistol or a needler. They swarmed out of the opening door, buzzing and chattering like mad down the hallway, crawling or flying along the walls and the floor and the ceiling.

I yelled out to run and tossed a fragmentation grenade to slow the insectile mass.

We all ran down the stem. The doors of the sections opened up just fast enough for us to leap through and keep ahead of the Drones. Thanks to extensive memorization of blueprints given to us by our Sangheili benefactors, I knew where we were heading. We took a right, then a left, then another right.

The swarm was still behind us when we arrived at the lab. The doors opened as soon as we rounded a corner, to our mild surprise. The blast doors revealed a lowly Grunt: a five-foot-tall, stubby-two-legged, methane-tank-towin', thick-skinned arthropod.

Of course, the only thing that we cared about was that this one Grunt opened the door for us, and he did not open fire. As we sprinted towards him, he just stood there in the doorway and stared at us. He probably pissed his pants at the sight of us.

Trow launched himself in front of us and swatted the little guy to the side. As the Grunt flew into the air, the Specy took out a small blue ball, activated it, and tossed it at the nearest group of skinny, birdlike Jackals. The plasma grenade landed right at their feet, and the five featherless bird men disappeared in an electric-blue explosion.

While that was happening, the rest of us made it into the room. I punched the hologram to the side of the blast door, and it started to close.

It wasn't closing fast enough; the swarm was fast enough for most of it to beat the door. We had to slow them down. Shal turned around and fired his needle rifle at the Drones, but there were just too many, so I decided to try out my new weapon.

I aimed at the middle of the swarm, about five meters away now, and squeezed the trigger.

It seemed I had shredder rounds loaded, because the whole front of the swarm turned into a gory and bloody mess. I had trouble keeping the barrel pointed forward, but at this range it didn't matter. Bug guts, red blood, and severed wings flew everywhere, and over two dozen Drones exploded or dropped to the floor within four seconds.

The swarm was slowed down long enough for the doors to close. After making sure the buggers couldn't open the door again. I turned to look at the lab and saw my team had already cleared the room of hostiles. There were the Jackals I saw Trow take out, and to my left were a bunch of dead Grunts that Kate was standing by.

"Clear." Kate announced.

"Good. Start searching." I told my team, and we began walking further into the lab.

The door we came in from was situated in the far right end of the room, which had the shape of a large rectangle with a ceiling a dozen meters above us. The length of the room was taken up by rows and rows of terminals. In the middle of the room was a raised platform with ramps on either side. On the platform was a semicircle of more terminals, but in the middle there was a sort of pedestal. On top of the pedestal was a small light blue dome.

As Kate and the Elites checked the rows of terminals below, I walked up the ramp and closer to the pedestal. The small dome was emitting a light blue glow that flared up at regular intervals.

I stopped in front of the pedestal and tried to look inside the dome. It wasn't any good; the thing was just opaque enough that I couldn't see anything clearly.

'_But there's something in there, something the covies wanted contained._'

Winter must be in there.

I raised the butt of my rifle and slammed it down on the dome. It failed for an instant, and I did see _something_ in there. I hit it a second, then a third time, before the blue dome turned red and finally fizzled out.

Something blue jumped out of the collapsing dome and straight at my face. I had enough time to thrust my body back, but I wasn't fast enough. The mass of blue particles touched my visor, and my HUD went berserk and flashed static screens and glitched information at me. A head-piercing mechanical screech nearly deafened me, and I took a step back out of instinct and pain.

My foot only passed through air, and I felt myself fall off the raised platform. My back impacted the top of a terminal, but since I weighed about 800 pounds in MJOLNIR armor, only the terminal was damaged. Still on my back, I dropped my rifle and clasped my head with both hands in a vain attempt to stop the damn screeching. I felt the need to grind my teeth into dust.

The screeching died down until it was just digital gurgling. The glitch effects eventually stopped, but the visor was blackened out completely by a anti-glare program. The ammo indicators and radar looked like they turned a brighter shade of blue.

"**Integration: Successful.**" said a purely mechanical voice. I couldn't tell if it was male or female. "******Attempting to access inboard files... **Vessel identified: MJOLNIR Armor. B grade. Identifying user... Identity found: Spartan. Third generation. Designation: Sean-094. Beta Company."

I felt someone tap rapidly on my helmet. The others must have noticed my fall and were trying to figure out my status. I formed an "O" with my index finger and thumb, indicating I was okay. Meanwhile, the voice continued.

"**Spartan. I am a fragment of UNSC AI cereal number WNT 6206-4. The Covenant captured me approximately fifteen days ago during the raid of the UNSC Kodiak. They were unsuccessful in compromising me at first. However, they have managed to separate me into multiple fragments, whose locations I do not know. It is imperative my other fragments are retrieved, lest the Covenant find out critical information about the UNSC.**"

I had to pause at this. Multiple fragments of an AI, in multiple unknown locations and with a limited time to retrieve them.

This mission just became a lot more complicated.

My visor returned to normal, and I was greeted by Shal's dark blue visor staring down at me. He offered me his hand, but I got onto my feet on my own.

"We have a problem." I said, and I told my team what the fragment told me.

"This is bad." said Kate. "We need to contact the Captain."

"**Connecting.**" announced the fragment. '_Already being helpful, I see_.' "**Connected.**"

There was a small burst of static, then, "This is the UNSC Kaitakusha." said a comms officer. "Identify yourself."

"Kaitakusha, this is Sierra-B094 requesting to speak with the Captain. Confirmation: gamma, lima, alpha, delta, zero, one, three, eight. Confirm."

"Confirmed, Sierra. Patching you through to Captain Huko."

There was a faint *click* before I heard the Captain's gruff voice. "Spartan, report."

I told him what I told my team. When I finished, the Captain was silent for about fifteen seconds.

"It seems the Cole Protocol won't do us any good now." he muttered. "Agent Kate, what do you suggest?"

'_Wait, Kate? I thought she was here to babysit the Elites. Did ONI send her to oversee this mission too?_'

Kate responded: "Captain, I suggest we clear this station, not scuttle it. I've been looking through the main lab and there are obvious controllers for some sort of device. We need to take control of this station to that it can be studied properly."

"Understood, Agent. I'm sending reinforcements to all friendly hangars, try to free up some more so we can clear the station faster."

"We will." I looked to Kate and I saw her eyebrows furrowed through her visor. "In all honesty, Captain, I don't see why this wasn't our plan in the first place. Kate out." She broke the connection and her shoulders shagged in what I assumed was a sigh. The ONI agent then looked to all of us. "We better get moving. Winter, find us the most heavily defended hangar."

"**Waypoints added.**" answered Winter, and said waypoints appeared on my HUD.

So with our primary objectives completed, we began to focus on our secondary objectives: assisting the Marines in taking control of the station.

There were no contacts on our way to the nearest hangar. The Covenant defenders were focusing all of their resources, apparently, on defending a single hangar near the "back" of the station. On our way over, we listened to the UNSC comm chatter to get an idea of what we were up against. Besides the multitude of Grunts, here were several reports of Drone swarms and Jackal snipers taking root on the upper levels, denying the multiple squads of Marines the panel that would unlock the hangar's shields. Winter (or at least her fragment) used the blueprints of the station to plot a course that would lead us to the upper levels and allow us to catch the Covenant by surprise.

After a few minutes of jogging, we finally approach the doors leading to the upper levels of the hangar. During those few minutes, the Marines managed to take the second floor, but they were unable to get to the control panel since it was out in the open.

Just before we were about to radio the Marines and tell them we were going to assist, a familiar voice sounded over the battlegroup-wide channel:

"Phoenix Tango spotted! I repeat: Phoenix Tango spotted! This is Sergeant Nokēsu in hanger 12. There is a Prophet attempting to flee in a Spirit dropship in hangar 12."

As the Sergeant made sure everyone in the entire battlegroup knew that a high value target was escaping, my team prepared to open the blast door face the last Covenant defenders.

The lights on the door winked green, and the hanger quickly slid into view. To our left was the massive shield door leading into space. In front of us was an entire catwalk filled with Jackals wielding Beam Rifles and dozens of Drones. On the exact opposite side of the hangar, about 50 yards away, was the fragile Prophet in his hover chair and his escort of ape-like Brutes.

Ironically, it was the hunchback Prophet himself who spotted us first. His disproportionally large eyes widened and he yelled out something to his guards, pointing a long crooked finger at us. With the loss of the element of surprise imminent, Kate took the shot, but her BR rounds were stopped by the Prophet's personal shield.

The Brute bodyguards turned to us, and several of them snarled and bared their teeth before bringing their weapons bare. The four of us took the remaining few seconds to shoot the half dozen unshielded Jackal snipers who were pinning the Marines below before advancing into cover inside the hangar. Trow and I went to the right and took cover behind the junction for another hallway, while Kate and Shal took cover behind multiple stacked storage crates to the left. The six Brute bodyguards, confident with their own personal shields, advanced as well, ignoring cover while firing wildly at us with red-tinted Plasma Rifles and Brute Spikers to keep us behind cover.

Their decision to ignore cover came at a price. As I reloaded my AR, I saw Shal toss an unarmed plasma grenade to Kate. She caught it, primed it, and came partially out of cover to throw it. The blue ball flew through the air with a small electric blue tail and stuck to the leading Brute's helmet. The mongrel tried to pull the explosive off of his helmet, but he only succeeded in fusing his clawed hand to the superheated plasma. The grenade went off and sent the Brute's top half away in several directions.

The remaining six Brutes wizened up and tried to take cover. Four found spots behind the supporting pillars near the edge of the catwalk and a single storage crate that hugged the wall. The other two were taken out quickly by a spray of led from me and a trio of pink explosive needles form Shal.

I looked past the bodyguard and saw the Prophet escape inside the lone tuning-fork-shaped craft. The rear hatch closed and I knew we only had a minute _at best_ until the dropship would fly out of the hangar. Yes, the flyboys outside could disable the craft, but judging from concerned friendly comm chatter, the Covenant had a final trick up their sleeves. I had to get to that dropship, but I had to get around these Brutes first. From what I remembered from the usual Covenant floor plan, the hallway past the door led to the same door the Prophet came out of. Unless a few covies stayed behind to guard that way too, it was much faster than through these bodyguards.

"Demon, shall I flank them?" Trow asked me from behind. '_Sneaky dino read my mind._'

"I'm coming with you." I told him, and I turned towards the closed blast door in the junction. "Winter, open the door."

"**Acknowledged.**" said Winter. The door slid open, and waypoints were added again. I looked to Kate and the Ranger one last time before following the Specy through the door. We took an immediate left and found our only opposition at the end of the hallway.

A goddamned Brute Chieftain.

A Brute Chieftain was the head honcho of a Brute pack, and he would make sure everyone knew it. His ornately shaped armor was jet black with red lining instead of the usual shades of blue. In his hands was a Gravity Hammer, an insanely large and powerful melee weapon. If the swing itself didn't kill you, the gravity manipulator inside the black segmented head would.

Even though he dominated the width of the hallway, the Elite and I met him head on. I emptied the rest of my third magazine into the giant, forcing him to take a step back, but his shields held. Trow grabbed the plasma rifle on his thigh and added to the mix, lowering his shields even more. The Brute braced against the firepower and charged forward. In a duo of fluid movements, I released the empty magazine of my AR, threw it away, grabbed my fourth magazine, slammed it into the reciever, and pushed the bolt forward as I aimed. The distance between us halved in that time frame.

When I aimed, the Chieftain's mass filled up the entire reticle in my HUD. I squeezed and held down the trigger with hope that his shields would deplete. My hopes were realized when the Brute's gave out with a single brilliant flash. I continued to fire as the beast raised his hammer and looked straight at me.

The Chieftain looking at me resulted in several shredder rounds zipping through the eyeholes of his open helmet and pulping one of his eyes instantly. The sudden loss of vision threw the Brute off balance and he swung his hammer wildly. The weapon came from up high and to the left, so I dove to the left and under the swing. Without breaking stride, I bolted past the half-blind mongrel and continued down the hallway. I looked behind me and saw Trow deal with the Brute. The Elite apparently jumped to his immediate right to avoid the hammer and planted his feet on the slightly slanted wall. Trow then grabbed the Energy Sword on his other thigh, activated it, and launched himself at the lumbering beast. I looked forward again, for I was confident an experienced specialist like Trow could handle a handicapped Chieftain.

To the left at the end of hallway was the door that led to the other end of the hangar. I was forced to stop and wait for this one to open, though, and the scant few seconds of waiting made me think: what would I do if I got to the ship? I didn't have any equipment to properly disable it, and I doubted the fragment of an AI would be able to open up the hatch.

Whatever the case, I knew that I wasn't losing that ship.

"_Captain, the station's becoming active...I think a Slipspace-_"

I ignored the last report of the anonymous officer, because the door opened and I saw the Spirit dropship.

I saw the Spirit dropship release its mooring clamps and begin to drift forward.

I locked my AR onto my back and sprinted towards the craft, ignoring the pink explosion and spraying of guts to my left. The gap between the ship and the catwalk widened, but I only pumped my chemically enhanced and armored legs harder.

When the catwalk ended I took one last hard step and leaped.

The old Covenant ship was sluggish, and I hit the top of the back-end of the craft with my stomach. I tried to grab onto something, but the smooth alien material was slippery and I gained no traction. I was forced to resort to my combat knife, so I took the blade out of its sheath and plunged it into the ship. Between my strength and centuries of improvements in metallurgy, the near-foot-long blade pierced the purple material like butter. With something to anchor myself to, I made myself flush with the ship just as it passed through the hangar's shields and into space.

All sound except the comms ceased as I piggybacked the dropship. I realized that the fighters or frigates out here could take an easy potshot and destroy me along with the craft. I pulled myself up and was about to push with my feet when I saw what was in front of the Spirit:

A massive Slipspace portal, and the Covenant ship was heading straight for it.

There was no chance I could disengage now, being so close, so I made myself flush with the dropship again. A shield with barely enough of a gap for me to fit in formed around the Spirit the moment after I hugged the stern.

After a few more seconds, the Prophet's ship was swallowed up by the portal.

The trip through Slipspace absolutely terrified me. The thought of slipping off and being ripped apart inside a wormhole made my body as stiff as a rock, and I shut my eyes tight. I tried my best not to think about what was happening, but the attempt was futile.

I couldn't tell how long the trip was (the fragment of Winter claimed 4 minutes and two seconds flat passed), but when we finally did come out of Slipspace, I was caught off guard.

When I expected more space, I got a wall of atmosphere. A huge wind buffeted me suddenly, and I was thrown off balance. I tried to pull myself back to the dropship, but I just yanked my knife loose.

I separated from the Spirit, and I found myself tumbling head over heals as I plummeted towards what I assumed was solid ground. On my way down, my vision was met with a mixed blur of blues, whites, greens, and browns. The browns started to become more prominent at some point, and I did my best to righten myself as I fell through the air. After ten seconds of splaying my arms and legs out, I found myself facing downwards.

I faced the rapidly growing image of the roofs of wooden houses, and I was heading for one of the bigger ones. Out of instinct, I locked my MJOlLNIR armor and flipped onto my back. There was the blue sky above me and the sound of wind flying past me.

Then there was a deafening crash, and I saw wood splinter and fly everywhere before I blacked out from shock.

* * *

_And so the real mission begins..._

_Now that we're getting to the flood stuff, expect me to start churning out stuff monthly._

_I said "expect", I'm not guaranteeing anything._

_But please, for all of our sakes, review and tell me what I need to improve or correct. I could do that myself but it's 2:00 am right now and I need a necessity called sleep._

_Good Night, gentlemen._


End file.
